


downward spiral

by yami (blind_man_sun)



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Drabble, M/M, Mental Health Issues, some sad boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 17:59:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7855309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blind_man_sun/pseuds/yami
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>your love isn't enough to save someone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	downward spiral

Hartley’s on a downward spiral, Cisco knows it.

He’s reminded of a phrase he saw, once: your love isn’t enough to fix someone. Which is good, he thinks, because he doesn’t love Hartley. And he definitely doesn’t want to be the one to fix him.

But he still worries.

He’s picked him off the ground after one too many fights too often, when Hartley’s spitting blood, dripping it from his nose and the tiny cuts by his eye. He does this thing, every time, where he’ll run the back of his palm across his face, smearing the red across his cheek, and he’ll laugh. It’s a bitter, empty, small sound. Cisco hates it.

He doesn’t mean to follow Hartley. It’s just that they both seem to end up occupying the same spaces. It’s almost like gravitation. 

Maybe it’s a competition. See who can hurt themselves the most.

There’s an uncomfortable realization in the back of his head that he’s spending so much time focused on Hartley’s problems because it gives him the opportunity to ignore his own. He ignores that thought as well.

He knows Hartley knows that he’s watching him, and if anything, it’s making him worse. He craves attention. He’ll destroy himself for it. He wants it almost as bad as he wants love. And I can’t give you that, Cisco thinks.

Not yet.

In a way he’s almost jealous. He wishes he could act out like Hartley does, because then maybe someone would notice. Then he wouldn’t be sitting on the smooth tile of the shower floor at three in the morning, the water so cold it makes his bones ache, digging nails into the soft parts of his skin so he’ll stay awake. Stop dreaming. 

He’s on a downward spiral. He knows it.

It’s after four when he drags himself into bed. It’s empty. He’s lonely. He thinks about Hartley.

Your love isn’t enough to save someone.

Cisco wonders if anyone thinks that about him.


End file.
